Blood Guard
The Blood Guard, also called the Draksyth Guard, was a highly elite guard unit tasked with the protection of the Draksyth Lord. The Draksyth was almost never seen without a detachment of Blood Guards at his side, so much that they usually accompanied him to his chambers. The exact number of Blood Guardsmen serving the Draksyth was unknown, with speculations ranging from less than ten to thousands. The Blood Guards were completely independent from the Royal Orupian Military and directly answerable to the Draksyth. The Blood Guard was largely comprised of of Orupian and Draksin men and women. During the period where Orupia did not need a Draksyth Lord, the Blood Guard was also dropped, however the reformation of the Draksyth role in 6 ABY quickly saw the return of the Blood Guardsmen. However this time, the guards were only Draksin males. Organisation & Philosophy The Blood Guard was a fierce fighting force and were personally hand picked by either the Draksyth Lord or Chevalier of Sers from the Orupian Military to undergo conditioning training to gauge as to whether they would be physically ready to be a Blood Guardsman. The guard consisted of men and women however, the most elite women that were highlighted instead were placed in the servitude of the Royal Family as a Handmaiden, leading to a friendly rivalry between the Blood Guards and the Orupian Handmaidens. Once they have successfully completed their conditioning training the men are sworn into the servitude of the Draksyth Lord. The members of the Blood Guard detail were completely devoted to the Draksyth Lord and would gladly give their life in his service. Those individuals that were part of the organization were trained to serve the Draksyth Lord loyally and completely, even above that of the ruling monarch. They could instantly turn against one another if commanded to do so and kill their fellow guardsmen without hesitation though obviously they would feel remorse for doing so. They were so well trained that even when injured, they did not ask for mercy and none was afforded to them. The primary duties of the Imperial Guard included the personal protection of the Draksyth Lord and those he designated as well as guarding his chambers. The actual protection of the Draksyth Lord was considered the most prestigious and was usually reserved for the select elite of the guardsmen. They were also involved with the security arrangements at the Royal Palace. Being the Draksyth Lord's protectors meant that their mission involving stopping any assassination attempts on the Draksyth's life as well as performing covert assault and even serving as assassins for their master. At least two guardsmen were always by the Draksyth's side and within view of him at all times. Others operated the Guard training facilities within Pareen or served at the Draksyth Lord's private estate. During their service, they quickly became one of the most recognizable units within the Orupian Military which was attributed largely to their unique armour. With their primary mission to protect the Draksyth Lord and any one he designated, the Blood Guard was usually never sent on combat missions as a unit. Instead, a few selected guardsmen were sent into combat, appearing as and working alongside the usual soldiers of the Orupian military. During such operations, they were always together as part of the same unit. This meant that they were never dispersed among the ordinary army units. Though command of the Blood Guard is only given by the Draksyth Lord, the Blood Guard also had a Head Guard. The Head Guard was personally responsible for the training of the group and for the operation of the guard in the event that the Draksyth Lord is separated from them somehow. Though they may take advice from the ruling monarch, the Chevalier of Sers or the Overseer, ultimately leadership of the Blood Guards in this circumstance remains with the Head Guard. History Reformation In 6 ABY Princess Isa Valois re-established the role of the Draksyth Lord and the Blood Guards, decorating Rhyley Stargazer with the honour. Rhyley was resistant at having his own guards however eventually let go of his hesitation. The guards were selected by Davine, and comprised a entire unit of purely Draksin males. The unit was placed in the charge of Tomith. Through the battles, many Blood Guards were killed, however among those that survived counted Veeso, Iaqau and Alon. Along with Tomith, the guards continued to serve the Draksyth diligently, loyal to him above that of Princess Isa Valois. It was due to this loyalty that the men remained with Stargazer, when he sided with Kileo against Princess Isa, having learned that Dimoh was actually the True Blood Princess. After defeating Isa and her brother Coti Valois, the Bloods remained a constant force within Pareen by 7 ABY. When it was reported that Stargazer was killed on New Alderaan, Tomith enacted the Dotete, forcing all Blood Guards to remain in the palace until a new Draksyth Lord was placed whilst the planet started it's Time of Mourning. Had no Draksyth been chosen, the Blood Guards would've remained in the palace until their deaths. During 8 ABY both Kileo Dimoh and Rhyley Stargazer finally returned to Orupia and again the Blood Guards took their position as protecting Stargazer. Princess Kileo having long been impressed by the bravery and leadership of Tomith decorated the man by bestowing upon him the Chevalier of Ser, and placing him within her Royal Court. Rhyley wasted no time in replacing Tomith with Iaqau, assigning Alon as his second, having overlooked Veeso purposefully having already decided to select the Draksin to replace Stargazer as Draksyth Lord with the former Blood Guardsman. Equipment & Training ]] Blood Guards wore matching black robes, with red battle armour (underneath a loose fitting tunic, as it was not visible under the robe), and helmets. The red armour did not hamper movement or fighting. The armor bore design influences from the uniforms of Naga Sadow's Sith Empire. The fact that their attire resembled this was no accident and the mere sight of a guardsmen tended to invoke fear in even the most trained of warriors of Orupia. Though after their reformation some thousands of years after the Guards were dissolved, they retained certain aspects of the Red Armour. In 9 ABY their armour was replaced with a red coloured variant of the N7 Armour, their former armour only being used for Ceremonial circumstances from then on. ]] The weaponry used by the Blood Guard were archaic lightsabers and simple blasters that were readily available at the time. Trained exhaustively in many forms of combat, their aptitude for using the force thanks to their heritage made them a dangerous foe. Following the Guards reformation in 7 ABY, they utilised an Orupian Sword and were given DH-17 Blasters by Rhyley Stargazer, weapons that were left behind by the Rebel Alliance following their battles against the Galactic Empire. Training was usually held at the royal palace. Conditioning programs usually consisted of over a dozen prospective guardsmen who attended a brutal training regime. Usually, by the end, there were only a handful of candidates left to become guardsmen and it was not uncommon for there to be only a single survivor. These soldiers would then be inducted into the guard and would train fencing and fighting in the fearsome Blood Arena, study tactical combat, espionage, close-quarters and ranged combat and learn the ancient Orupian hand signal language of Be'geset. During this training program, guardsmen would spar against each other continuously to perfect their combat skills. They would also learn to rely on themselves to achieve victory. Training mainly centred on the Orupian martial art Dao'pra'sodu which focused on hand-to-hand, blade and staff combat. Casualty rates of guardsmen training could sometimes be quite high. Foot Note This Organisation is used within a RESOLUTION Plots and is so part of the RSNverse of Star Wars lore. In the RSNverse, the Organisations history may run a different course to that of canon or the EU. Category:Organisations